In Kaliyuga, people are shortlived and lack Dharma and true Gurus, as powers like Astras and Siddhis were passed on from gurus to disciples in Gurukuls and Ashramas. Gurukuls were burned and scholars there were either killed or forced to work for Britishers or Mughals under foreign invasion. Most of the scholars and Gurus are hypocrites today and true Dharma has been corrupted by western education and adoption of western civilization and their language.
Srimad Bhagavatam
The Degraded Dynasties and Corrupt Nature of the Rulers of Kali-yuga
(1) S'rĂ® S'uka said: 'And then, oh King, under the strong influence of
the time [of Kali-yuga] religiousness, truthfulness, cleanliness,
tolerance and mercy as also duration of life, physical strength and
memory will diminish day after day [see also 1.16]. (2) Among the
people of the age of Kali all one attains by good birth, behavior and
qualities will be wealth while material power will be the only factor
determining what is just and reasonable. (3) Relations between men and
women will be based upon sensual pleasure, business will be ruled by
deceit, masculinity and femininity are there for sexual attraction and
a sacred thread will suffice to be considered learned Brahmin. (4) External marks only determine someone's spiritual status and constitute the basis for mutual exchanges, because of a lack of funds
one is less credible and scholarship consists of word jugglery. (5)
Poverty simply means a lack of virtue and hypocrisy and deceit are the
standard of virtue; verbal agreement is enough to be married and a
bath suffices to start the day. (6) A holy place is a reservoir of
water somewhere far away, beauty depends on one's hair style, life's
purpose is to fill one's belly, someone audacious is considered
truthful, when one can maintain a family one is an expert and one
observes religious principles for the sake of one's reputation. (7)
With the earth being crowded with a populace thus corrupted, anyone
who is the strongest among the intellectuals, the rulers, the
merchants and the working class, will be called the king. (8) The
citizens whose wives and property are stolen by a merciless and
avaricious ruling class that behaves like ordinary thieves, will flee
to the mountains and the forests. (9) Suffering draughts, famine and
taxation they will be ruined and resort to the consumption of leaves,
roots, meat, honey, fruits, flowers and seeds [see also 1.16: 20,
4.20: 14, 4.21: 24, B.G. 3: 14]. (10) Plagued by cold, wind, heat, rain and snow as also by quarrels, hunger, thirst and diseases, they
suffer a great deal of distress and anxiety. (11) The maximum duration
of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will be fifty years. (12-16)
When the bodies of all living entities are in decay from the
contamination of Kali-yuga, when the dutifulness of the members of all
status-orientations is lost, when the Vedic path for all man has
changed into a predominantly atheistic sense of duty, when the kings
mainly consist of thieves and the people in their various occupations
are lying criminals of useless violence [against specially animals],
when the societal classes as good as all are engaged in profit-minded
labor, cows have the same value as goats, the hermitages hardly can be
distinguished from materialistic households, family bonds do not reach
beyond the ties of marriage, when the plants and herbs are mostly
small sized and all trees are like s'amĂ® trees, when there is always
lightning in the clouds and the homes are ruled by loneliness
[voidism, impersonalism, see Pranâti], when Kali-yuga is running at
its end and the people behave like asses, the Supreme Lord will
descend in the mode of pure goodness to defend the dharma.